pen gun

imported post

I don't know if this is the right forum to ask this question but.............
Back in 1967 or 68, My Dad sent away for a tear gas pen....
The interesting thing about it was that you un-screwed the end of it
and inserted a .38 spl blank in itand then stuffed a tear gas packet in
it front of the blank......
My Dad fired it off only once, I cant say that itpropelled much
tear gas out off it...
What I was wondering is......if this pen was really a single shot .38calpen gun
that wascalled a tear gas pen to get around the gun laws..
Kind of like selling brass knuckles as paper weights
Has anyone heard of this Pen and could it have been used as a gun ??

imported post

Its my understanding that if it can fire real ammunition it is a firearm, subject to all rules and regulations. You can call it whatever you want but if BAFTE says its a gun then its a gun. A pen gun would be an Any Other Weapon, subject to all the NFA rules regarding AOWs.

imported post

I remember seeing ads for that in the back of comic books.
It's possible that it had a smaller opening (<.38) for the tear gas to come out or an obstruction like in a starter pistol.

imported post

I think that "tear gas gun" was similar to one that is used by the military. The MK-31 flare lanucher (called a "pencil-flare lanucher by some)is used to firemarking and illumination flares to an altitude of 250' and burn for 3-5 seconds.

I've never tried it, but I've heard you can screw a .38 cal cartridge into the launcher and it would shoot. I don't think I'd try it because of thepossibility of casing rupture. The MK-80 (and other types) of flares designed for use in this launcherseem to have thicker walls than standard pistol casings.

It is illegal to use the launcher for any other purpose but to launch the government-use only flares. It is also illegal for anyoneother than military personnel to haveone.

imported post

I don't know much about them, but Rex Applegate mentioned them in Kill Or Get Killed, but he didn't say much about them. I'll quote him directly. "In addition the general public can buy small imported .22 caliber automatic pistols shooting very small amounts of tear gas plus a wide variety of tear gas fountain pens in calibers from .38 to .410 gauge. The actual effectiveness of the concentration of tear gas released from these devices is variable and questionable".

It is likely that the above quote predates the 68 GCA.

Here is a site with some pictures of different types. http://www.fightingknives.info/Default.aspx?tabid=844

Judging by how old they all look, these things appear to have been all but stopped by the GCA.

imported post

Cap-Stun, that's the way to go for less-than-lethal options, I carry it whenever practical in addition to or in lieu of my firearm.

I actually had to use the stuff back in 1997 on a drunken dope-soaked lout who wouldn't leave the apartment building I was managing as a part time gig. He attacked and I let him have it. Now what they say about someone who is drunk or high on dope being impervious to CapStun is a lot of hooey. Oh, he kept coming but he had to pry one eye open to aim swings of the piece of re-bar he was attacking with, but I just dodged until I saw him taking a breath, whereupon I put a blast right down his throat. THAT put him down, and the effects mostly wore off shortly after he was in handcuffs (that is to say he was not struggling to breathe, but he was yelling because it still burned like hell).

Interestingly Kimber makes a similar OC resin device that uses pressure generated by an explosion, but only a stream of liquid is ejected - at 90 MPH and it is effective at (I beleive) about 50 feet, and has two "shots". I also believe you can mail-order this device.